Lost Pines

Hi friends! I finally transferred a bunch of pictures from my camera to the computer and I was reliving some great memories we've made recently. Mainly our little getaway to Lost Pines Resort for Scott's birthday. It was one of those "trips" that couldn't have come at a better time. God really blessed us with an incredible weekend as our little family and we were able to get our minds off of stressful life stuff and just. be. together.

The trip was a surprise for Scott--I think the only time I've ever successfully surprised him with something. His birthday was on a Friday, and he worked that day. But when he got home I had us all packed up and ready to head out the door. I told him what to wear and he had no clue where we were headed, and for sure didn't know we wouldn't be back that night. Well, until he noticed that I had fed Kodi. That was the giveaway we wouldn't be home for the night because I never feed her. Don't judge me. He likes to take care of her. And hey, at least I remembered her.

One thing I love about us is that Scott was really worried that we were going to drop the kids off at the grandparents' house and they wouldn't be with us on our adventure. But I never considered that. I knew he (and I) would want our kids to be with us. Its just how we roll.

I ended up telling him where we were going when we got tied up in a little Friday afternoon rush hour traffic out by the airport. I figured we could spend our time sitting in the car getting excited about the fun we would eventually have.

Lost Pines is a Hyatt Resort outside of Bastrop, TX. Its a little less than an hour from our house. It was super convenient to get to, but felt like we were on a real vacation! I loved it! We ate an awesome buffet for his birthday dinner, with an incredible dessert buffet as well. They have fire pits scattered around the property at night where you can make 'smores or sing kumbayah or whatever you want. It was a perfect night sitting around the fire with my favorite people looking at the stars. (This is where I have to tell you this little-known fact about my husband: He's a bit of an astronomy prodigy. I know, you'd never guess it. Apparently he took an astronomy class in college and every now and then likes to dazzle us all with his knowledge on the constellations and comets and whatever other fancy star words you can think of. I'm a lucky gal.)

Now, we woke up on Saturday after a great night's sleep in a super comfy bed to horrible weather. I was so so bummed. I had planned out some hiking down by the Colorado River and maybe into Bastrop State Park. But it was cloudy, 50 degrees, and super windy. And it looked like it could pour down rain at any moment. We remained optimistic and got dressed to head to breakfast.

The best breakfast ever. It was a huge buffet with everything you could imagine. They had a build-your-own omelette station that was to die for. It rivaled the one on our cruise that I would drag myself out of bed for at 10:00 before it shut down each morning. As we stuffed our faces with great food at a perfect picture-window table, the sun began to break through the clouds just as a light rain began to fall. It was beautiful.

And thankfully, the rain ended just as we were finishing up breakfast. We spent the rest of the day on a short horse-drawn wagon ride, playing at the playground, teaching the kids to play soccer (let's be honest, Scott took on that task), playing in the arcade room, watercolor painting, and playing silly games.

We had so much fun together! And I'm so thankful that God gave us that time together. Even though I had booked it a month or so beforehand, it came at a perfect time. Even if the weather was cold and windy. He always knows exactly what we need. And I think that's what made our time so perfect.

 At our birthday dinner

 The amazing 2-tiered dessert buffet

 Scott's dessert plate. Massive.

 Strolling the resort

 My boys at the campfire

 Daddy Daughter

 On our wagon ride! They gave us blankets to snuggle in. Thankfully!

 Hangin with the horses

Family pic after our ride 

 Chillin in a wagon waving to the other wagon riders

 The kids did a "worm dig," finding a gummy worm hidden in a plate of whipped cream and oreos. You aren't supposed to use your hands, but our kids missed that memo.

Scott got challenged to a worm dig by that grandpa next to him. What a sport.